We already know that EA and DICE will make a big thing out of showcasing Battlefield 3 at GamesCom, which kicks off on August 16. The guys over at PlanetBattlefield got some sneaky pictures of the Battlefield 3 booth, which is still under construction. Also, EA released its official floor plan for GamesCom, where Battlefield 3 is featured most prominently among EA titles. It should be, considering they’ve got a real-life jet in there.

Battlefield 3 will make a big splash at the world’s biggest game show, GamesCom, in Cologne, Germany, with EA bringing in a real jet to spice up the BF3 booth. But Battlefield 3 will be touring elsewhere as well, including the popular Penny Arcade Expo, PAX, which will be held in Seattle on August 26. Furthermore, Battlefield 3 will also be present at this year’s GameFest in Birmingham, United Kingdom, on September 16.

Here are all the dates for future events where Battlefield 3 will be showcased:

GamesCom, August 16, Cologne, Germany.
PAX West, August 26, Seattle, USA
GameFest, September 16, Birmingham, United Kingdom

There’s only one remaining video game event left on the calendar: Tokyo Game Show, which is one of the largest and will be held on September 17 – 19. It is unknown whether EA will be showing off Battlefield 3 at TGS, but we expect some sort of BF3 presence, considering the size and importance of TGS.

We’ve had a few requests for some new wallpapers based on Battlefield 3 The Russian, and we’ve gladly obliged. We’ve made a couple of widescreen wallpapers for you, in 1920 x 1200 and 1920 x 1080 resolutions. We’ve another wallpaper after the break. READ ON »

Last month we reported of a mysterious Battlefield 3 book appearing on Amazon and other online retailers. Now EA and DICE have revealed more details about the novel, including an official title. The book will be called The Russian, and will be written by Andy McNab, who has previously written several novels, and, as former SAS Operative, he advised DICE during the production of Battlefield 3.

The story of Battlefield 3: The Russian, which is co-authored by Peter Grimsdale, is a sequel to the single player campaign of Battlefield 3, and follows Russian special forces soldier Dmitri “Dima” Mayakovsky and his missions.

Battlefield 3: The Russian will be released on the same date as the game: October 25, 2011. It’s not surprising to see major game releases getting spin-offs these days. Many games have received books, comic books, and of course, movies.

Earlier this week EA revealed the pre-order bonuses for the US market, and Best Buy offered a set of 8 multiplayer skins for players — 4 on the US and Russian sides. The new skins resemble the SpecAct kit in Bad Company 2, however, this time only the player skins are included, not weapon skins. The above image shows the US Marine version of the skins. Read on for the Russian skins, which look a bit more bad ass, in our humble opinion Both pictures are in 1080p resolution, unwatermarked. READ ON »

Over the past month or so, European gamers could pre-order Battlefield 3 and get a series of bonuses, depending on where they pre-ordered. Now, the pre-orders have finally arrived stateside, and it’s the same offerings we’ve seen before, only with different retailers. Here’s what we know so far:

Gamestop Battlefield 3 pre-order

GameStop’s pre-order includes the Physical Warfare pack, in addition to the Back To Karkand DLC. If you are part of their PowerUp Rewards, you’ll get a free Prima Battlefield 3 strategy guide as well.

Amazon Battlefield 3 pre-order

If you pre-order on Amazon, you’ll receive an exclusive set of dog tags for multiplayer. On top of that, the pre-order includes the Back To Karkand expansion pack.

Best Buy Battlefield 3 pre-order

Best Buy offers the same Limited Edition version with Back To Karkand, plus a set of new multiplayer skins — the SPECACT Kit. You’ll receive a code to unlock 8 new multiplayer skins when the game is released.

We’ve got a new batch of screenshots showing off the Battlelog service, which will be tightly integrated into Battlefield 3. Battlelog not only shows statistics and player profiles, but functions as a fully fledged social network, with status updates, friends, chat, and more. On top of that, there are separate sections for weapons, awards, and much more, as you can see in the screenshots. Enjoy

By all accounts, we won’t be seeing Battlefield 3 on Steam, to many gamers’ dismay (including ours). Game analyst Michael Pachter, whom we’ve heard from several times here on BF3Blog, answered a question during his latest Pach-Attack! show, concerning Battlefield 3 and how much in sales it would cost EA not to offer it on Steam.

Pachter predicts total sales of 8 million for Battlefield 3, with 10% of the sales happening on the PC platform. That’s 800,000 units, and he believes that Steam would have accounted for half of that — 400,000. Since it’s not on Steam, EA’s Origin will be offering BF3, but Pachter still believes that EA will take a hit if about 100,000 copies — 100,000 copies less sold if Battlefield 3 is not on Steam.

This isn’t a big deal, financially speaking. Many expect BF3 sales to top 10 million, and a loss of 100,000 represents only 1% of the total sales. We can imagine the vast majority of PC gamers who are disappointed about lack of Steam support will eventually buy the game, either via Origin, or another download service, or get in retail.

One things that surprised us about Pachter’s prediction is that PC would only account for 10% of the sales — this seems quite low, as Bad Company 2 has seen somewhere around 2.5 million units sold on PC, out of 9 million in total. In other words, PC sales represented a 27% take. With the anticipation and marketing money behind Battlefield 3, it’s easy to see it sell far more then the 800,000 units on PC that Pachter estimates.

One of the big requests from gamers for Battlefield 3 is the return of BattleRecorder, which was featured in Battlefield 2. BattleRecorder makes it easy to record and play back gameplay, making it ideal for those looking to make videos and Machinima content. It’s been uncertain whether we’d see BattleRecorder in Battlefield 3, but there has been some development on that front.

In a recent interview with PixelEnemy, EA’s Battlefield Brand Manager Kevin O’Leary let it slip that BattleRecorder would not be returning to Battlefield 3. This stirred a lot of tension in the community, but then DICE community manager Daniel Matros tweeted that this was not the case — the lack of BattleRecorder was dismissed by Matros. Where does that leave us? Where we pretty much began: BattleRecorder isn’t confirmed, but isn’t denied either. Seeing as how quickly DICE was to correct O’Leary’s statement, and considering how much gamers want BattleRecorder, it’s easy to assume that we’ll see some form of recording capability in Battlefield 3.

DICE had previously mentioned that they had been using BattleRecorder internally to create the videos and trailers we’ve seen of Bad Company 2 and Battlefield 3. BattleRecorder was a popular feature in BF2 and contributed to a lot of videos, Machinima and other content. With the popularity of YouTube and gaming channels today, BattleRecorder in BF3 would be more than welcome.

Later this year, two of the biggest first person shooters ever will go head to head in what appears to be the ultimate heavy weight battle. We’re in the Battlefield 3 corner, of course, and there are plenty of fan boys in the other corner as well. However, according to EA’s Kevin O’Leary and Infinity Ward’s Robert Bowling, who both spoke to Kotaku, it’s just a friendly rivalry.

When asked about Modern Warfare 3 and the competition it will bring, EA’s O’Leary was quick to dismiss the notion of competition altogether. He said in an interview with Kotaku,

“Our game focuses on this battlefield experience. We give you so many tools; you can choose your vehicles, your weapons, your class. We want to win over the hardcore guys who may be on the fence. We want to do that with Frostbite 2. It’s 30 frames per a second on console, but we have destruction, vehicles, a new animation system. It’s not about a number. It’s about the full experience.”

Speaking to Kotaku on a different occasion, Infinity Ward’s Robert Bowling, who recently said he’ll buy BF3, took the same non-conformist stance with O’Leary, commenting on the intense fan base rivalry that’s going on between the BF3 and MW3 fans. Bowling specifically addressed the criticism that Modern Warfare 3 has gotten from Battlefield fans:

“Any game that has two very different audiences, you’re going to see [negative fan reaction]. Every game has its passionate user base. We see it from everybody.”

When asked what he thought of the intense Battlefield fans who have been criticizing and mocking Modern Warfare over the past few months, Bowling had this to say: “They are passionate”.

So far developers at DICE and Infinity Ward have taken a diplomatic approach, while their bosses at EA and Activison, respectively, have engaged in a heated argument, with Activision criticizing BF3 console performance, while EA has always stated that BF3 is “designed to take down Modern Warfare“.